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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Revelation 9:7 - 9:11
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rev_9:7-11
7The appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads appeared to be crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. 8They had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions. 9They had breastplates like breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to battle. 10They have tails like scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to hurt men for five months. 11They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon.
Rev_9:7-9 "the appearance of the locusts" The physical description of these locusts is very similar to Joe_2:4-9 and also to a famous Arabian proverb that says, "locusts have a head like a horse, a breast like a lion, feet like a camel, a body like a serpent, and antennae like the hair of a maiden."
This is obviously an allusion to the book of Joel in its description of:
1. the lion's teeth (cf. Rev_9:8; Joe_1:6)
2. the vast number of chariots and horses rushing to battle (cf. Rev_9:9 and Joe_2:5)
Rev_9:8 Some see this as a reference to the Parthian hordes, cavalry with long hair. These were known for their skill as mounted archers. The Romans feared these barbaric invaders.
Rev_9:11 "They have as king over them" Pro_30:27 says that locusts do not have a king, but this is an allusion to a demonic swarm, not physical locusts.
▣ "the angel of the abyss" The term "abyss" refers to the realm of the dead (cf. Rev_9:1-2; Rev_9:11; Rev_11:7; Rev_17:8; Rev_20:1; Rev_20:3; and Rom_10:7).
See full note at Rev_9:1.
▣ "his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon" The Hebrew (Aramaic) term meant "destruction" and the Greek term meant "destroyer." The Hebrew term was identified with Sheol, the realm of the dead (cf. Job_26:6; Job_29:22; Job_31:12; Psa_88:11 Pro_15:11; Pro_27:20).
Robert B. Girdlestone has an interesting comment on this term in his book Synonyms of the Old Testament: "This word is rendered "perish" in about a hundred passages. When used of persons it generally signifies death, when used of lands it implies desolation" (p. 273).
In Job_28:22 it is personified along with Death. This personification is also characteristic of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the intertestamental Jewish apocalyptic literature. This is somewhat unusual because the angel of death in the OT is a servant of YHWH (cf. Exo_12:23; Job_15:21) or even a personification of YHWH (cf. Exo_12:13; Exo_12:29). But here the angel seems to be the ruler of an imprisoned, demonic horde. This may be another way to show God's control of all things.
Some have even asserted that as the emperors Nero and Domitian claimed to be the incarnation of Apollo, that this Greek name is a corrupted form and an allusion to Apollyon. There are two pieces of evidences to support this,
1. locusts were a symbol of Apollo
2. the term Apollo and Apollyon both come from the same Greek root